Clough Captures Francis for a Quarter-Million Quid!
Tuesday, 10th May 2011 10:23 by Daniel J Sewart

Now that a season of struggle has ended, Nigel Clough has wasted no time by finalising the transfer of Frank Fielding from Blackburn Rovers.

Various reports in the media recently stated that Fielding joined the Rams for an undisclosed figure but it is believed the deal was worth somewhere in the vicinity of £250,000 rising to £400,000 with appearances.

Fielding has been training with the Rams since his second loan spell finished and it was only a matter of time before he became a full time Derby County player with the deal seemingly already done.

Rams fans will greet the news with excitement as Fielding was a commanding presence for the team this season and has a bright future mapped out for him both at club and international level.

The addition of Fielding has given Clough confidence that next season there will far less mistakes between the sticks:

"We are talking eight to 10 goalkeeping errors during the season, a huge amount. I don't know any other team who have had that many."

"Goalkeeper is a huge thing for us in the summer. We have had four this season, which is too many."

"Frank, we hope, will make fewer goalkeeping errors than we have had this season."

It seems this news confirms that Stephen Bywater is not a part of Clough's plans for 2011-12. Whether that means a transfer to Cardiff or releasing the player remains to be seen - but that scenario may hinge on the results of the play-offs.

For those of you who have been living under a rock and don't know much about our first permanent signing for the coming season, RamZone is happy to present a full player profile.

Francis David "Frank" Fielding –

Francis was born on the 4th of April of 1988 in Blackburn Lancashire and came through the ranks at Blackburn as a product of Rovers academy.

Standing at 6’1” he got his first real taste of first team football when he joined Wycombe Wanderers in league 2 in 2007 on a three-month loan. Wanderers were having a terrible run of luck with major injuries to all of their keeper options (sound familiar?).

Fielding kept a clean sheet on debut and made such an impression that his loan was extended until the end of the 07/08 season. Such was his form in goal, once the clubs regular keepers had returned from injury; they were unable to displace him from the team.

In the 08/09 season he looked for more football at Northampton Town where he made 12 appearances over the 3 months he spent with the club.

For the rest of the 08/09 season Fielding was loaned to Rochdale where he was instrumental in the club reaching the play-offs. Unfortunately they lost to Gillingham in the semi-finals.

During the 09/10 season Fielding joined Leeds United on a one-month emergency loan and during that time was called up to England under-21 team.

Once the month at Leeds was up Fielding returned to Rochdale on loan until the end of the 2009–10 season and once again was a major influence in the club finishing third and this time round promotion to League One.

2010–11 started as it had been in his time at Blackburn finding himself third choice keeper with Paul Robinson firmly entrenched as number one.

Fielding issued a "come-and-get-me" plea to the Championship as rumours of interest from the Rams surfaced - "It is the worst feeling when you are training all week and not playing - so if anyone wants me on loan, I'm available!"

The rumours became reality as he joined Derby on a four-week emergency loan on 15 October 2010. Stephen Bywater was injured and Fielding went straight into the squad for the home match against Preston North End in which he kept a clean sheet as the Rams had a comfortable 3–0 win.

The loan was extended for an additional month on until December and on returning to Blackburn his seven appearances had included three clean sheets, 15 points from a possible 21 and the Rams sitting fourth on the table.

Fielding returned to Blackburn and again was without regular football until the Rams came knocking again for his services earlier this year. Once again he was outstanding in goal as he completed the matches permitted under the period of the emergency loan.

He has been training with the Rams since waiting for a permanent move to hopefully eventuate.

It seems he will have to wait no longer.

At international level, he has played for the England U19’s (2 appearances) and U21’s (8 appearances) for whom he is currently the first-choice keeper.